Forests and the global environment. [Session review]
1993
Doley, D. (Queensland Univ., St Lucia (Australia). Dept. of Botany)
Forests are critically important to the well-being of the earth. They contain over half of the species of organisms, provide physical stability for the earth's surface, shelter, and many essential needs of all human societies. Forests have a significant influence on the environment, particularly on the rates of exchange of carbon and water between the air and the earth's surface, in storing carbon, and in removing pollutant materials from the air. Forests are under pressure in developing countries for realisation of their capital value, for the provision of shelter and fuel, and for conversion of land to food production. The present and future demands of the developing countries for domestic wood is the dominant and increasing component of total world wood consumption. The efforts of many people to conserve what is left of the forests will need to take account of the patterns of distribution and change of human populations, as well as their frailties and aspirations. Deliberate and skillful forest management will be even more critical in the future than it is now.
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